To Dream in Black and White
by Ravenwisker
Summary: When team members start being assassinated with no help of the opposing team, questions arise as to who is doing it and why. Fem oc engineer/sniper Still questioning myself about this pairing, but I'll make it work. T for gore and cursing, may change
1. Chapter 1

**A/n: I really hate that I have the ablility to come up with an amazing character, get him/her fully developed, and not have a plot... Its really annoying. Also, I should be writing pther things, but I'm not. ENJOY~**

**Forgive me for the shittyness of this chapter, I hate first chapters :P  
**

**~Raven  
**

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The Red engineer was killed. Not just knocked out or shot or injured, but assasinated. And not by anyone on the blue team either. He was killed by a bullet not used by any of the blue teams fighters, and no one knew exactly why.

The Well was neutral ground right now, and unless one got to close to the others base, you could wander safely around the battlefield. It was close to seven in the evening when the replacement arrived. Everyone was gathered around the kitchen, awaiting the night's meal. A freight train slowly pulled up on the Red side, one of the cargo boxes behind the engine opening and allowing a slightly plump woman to hop out with a duffel bag slung over her shoulder. She looked up at the tall brick building, smiling.

Slowly, she moved towards the garage door, pulling it up and letting it fall behind her. She continued walking, soft grey eyes taking in her surroundings. _It's quiet… Perfect!_ she thought, smiling again as she climbed the stairs next to the sign announcing the direction of the barracks. She passed through a clean room with a point on the far side, quickly putting it behind her.

In front of her now was the door separating her from her teammates. She got closer, hearing the sounds of eating and chatting coming from behind it. She ran her left hand through her just above shoulder length brown hair before opening it, trying her best to smile at the sudden quiet and all the eyes on her. Instantly there was a click, the cocking of a gun no doubt. She squeezed through, shutting the door behind her.

The youngest, a boy with a baseball cap and dog tags around his neck spoke first. "Who 'da fuck are you?"

The girl straightened, looking at him then everyone else. "I'm your new Engineer, you can call me Mech."

Another man narrowed his eyes behind his slightly shaded glasses. "You're a Sheila, how could you be the new guy?"

Mech shrugged, "I got a letter in the mail telling me my services were required, what to bring, and when I was being picked up."

The man with the glasses snorted as if that answer wasn't good enough. The one in a white lab coat stood from his seat.

"Vell, if you vill be staying for a vile ve might as vell introduce ourselves. I am Medic," he said, holding out his hand a little. She smiled and shook it.

He pointed to each of the men seated around the table, allowing them to either introduce themselves or he would do it for them. Mech smiled lightly.

"Thanks." She gestured at the food on the table. "May I?"

The Medic smiled back and nodded, pulling out the chair in between him and Scout and letting her sit. She placed her duffel bag on the floor behind her chair and began to fill her bowl with the stew on the table. The conversations started back up, and roaring laughs followed. Mech didn't say much, mainly just observe the others.

When they finished up, she helped clean up the table as the men retired either to their rooms or to the small living room. Medic stayed behind, and gestured towards the other door. Mech followed him through it, assuming it was the dorm wing of the base. He stopped at the end of the hall, first knocking then entering when there was no reply. He flicked on the light an the small wood-colored room became illuminated. The younger girl spotted a bed along with a dresser, but other than that, the room was empty.

"Zis is Sniper's room, but he doesn't use it. He prefers his cold, drafty van for some reason. Zeeing as how Engineer slept in his workshop and you vill probably want an acceptable living quarters, you can have zis room."

She smiled, throwing down her duffel bag and flopping down on the bed. It was soft, perfect for rest. She faced him.

"Thank you, are you sure he won't mind?" She asked, she didn't want to get into too much trouble on the first day.

Medic nodded, turning to leave. He stopped, though and turned back. "Ze supplies train is coming tomorrow. If you need anything, write it down and bring it along. If zey don't have it, zey vill be sure to have it next veek."

Mech smiled again and expressed her thanks. Medic simply smiled back and left the room, closing the door behind him.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/n: SO, I wrote this all last night between the hours of 9pm and 3am. Yeah, it took that long :B I had that itch to write that I usually get... well never but still. Evil deeds be in this chapter, fufufufuf~**

**Enjoy,**

**~Raven**

**PS! I'm lookin' for a beta reader and someone to kick me in the pants when I don't update. Apply within~  
**

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Just as Medic had said, A train had pulled up the next day at about six in the morning. Mech had brought her now-empty duffel bag to the tracks along with a mental list of things she would need. She hadn't bothered to dress in her newly-given work clothes, opting rather for a pair of black shorts and a red t-shirt. There were four freight cars within the fenced in area, each with a counter within the car and several men in grey suits behind them. She found it peculiar that each of them had helmets that covered their face, but as she spoke to them, they could hear her although they did not speak.

She had taken only a few items including a case of bottles of tea, feminine products(which she quickly shoved to the bottom of her bag), a case of beer and several bars of shuffled back to her room along with her new co-workers who were equally as groggy. She bumped into Sniper who stumbled and grumbled something almost inaudible before looking back at her and shifting his glasses.

"S-sorry..." She muttered, looking away. He shrugged, closing his eyes, shifting the full pillowcase on his shoulder and continuing on to his van. It was harder then she thought, fitting in, and it was almost like being back at ser collage, the other students noticed her, but that was it.

After unloading her things in her room she changed into her new gear, opting for an engineers cap instead of the hardhat. Mech looked at her uniform; black overalls, red flannel shirt with a wrench patch stitched on and a white undershirt, boots, knee pads, gloves and a utility belt. She smiled, feeling at home in this outfit. She slid a pair of goggles onto her forehead and put her cap squarely on her head, heading down to her predecessors garage.

The room was cold and dark, and even upon turning on the lights the workshop seemed somewhat haunting. Tools and half built sentries were scattered around on workbenches along with portals and out of service dispensers. She looked them over, tweaking parts here and there and even getting one to work. She stopped at one of the cork boards on the wall, covered with blueprints od each of the machines in the room. They showed how to downsize each of the machines, how to set them up and upgrade them. She took a copy for each, stuffing them as well as one of each of the machines and several tools into a large red tool-box.

"_Mission begins in 10 minutes." _A voice crowed, making Mech jump. She grabbed the items that had been laying next to the toolbox, a shotgun, a monkey-wrench and several remote controls, placing them in their appropriate places around her tool belt. She took her tool box hurrying back to the main room were everyone was gathered, weapons reared and ready for battle.

She caught Scout smiling at her,and returned a amused but confused look. He noticed and quickly looked away. She snorted a laugh and made him blush. She saw and did her best not to laugh. She had been told this might happen.

"_Five, four, three, two, one. CONTROL POINT ENABLED, MOVE!" _ The voice screeched, and Mech was shoved aside.

Soldier screamed at her "Move it maggot! Make your self useful!"

She gave him a frantic look, hauling out her toolbox and running to the control point. She had heard about this war, even seen clips about it in the paper and on the TV. They were only ever in black and white, though, and she was unprepared for this.

Her teammates quickly took over the first point, moving on to the next one with the Blu team pushing back forcefully. She set up her sentry near their point in a spot where it was possible to shoot down enemies, but it was harder to take out. She kept behind it while bullets whizzed past her, nearly hitting her. She tweaked and worked with the small sentry, using bits of ammo and scrap metal and upgrading the sentry to a larger and much more aggressive one. The blueprints left behind labeled this as the level '3' sentry, and that he was unable to make it bigger. It shot several members of the other team, knocking several out.

She had seen the Blu Pyro take a head shot, but he was not dead, simply knocked out. A close-by teammate would usually take them back to the infirmary. They would return a few minutes later, fully healed with the exception of a scar. She wondered how many times one could receive a fatal wound here without dying.

She was shot that first day, and eventually had to call for Medic who happily assisted her, suggesting she put up her dispenser. She did so, and as she was, she was alerted that the point she had been protected had been captured by the Blu team. One of the devices on her belt rang loudly, telling her that her sentry had been taken down. She gave an exasperated sigh, packing up her dispenser and moving back to the next point.

Red soon lost that one as well, and made their best effort to protect the Home Point. Mech had been reassembling her sentry when Blu Soldier took careful aim at her with his rocket launcher. He fired, and she looked up, just having enough time to move to dodge the whistling rocket. Her attacker dropped to the ground, blood seeping from a bullet to the head. She looked up, for the first time, seeing Sniper scowling at her from the walkway near the entrance to the living quarters.

"Watch yer' 'ead, Sheila. Ah can't do it for yeh." He yelled, moving forward, back to their second point as a bell tolled, letting them know it had been recaptured. It was close to three in the afternoon when the Red Team took back the middle point. Mech had been to the infirmary twice, either from a head shot or a rocket to the chest(one of the most painful things she had ever experienced).

She now stood on top of one of abandoned Red freight cars, setting up her sentry for the fifth time. This time, she heard the blast made by the Soldiers rocket launcher and moved in enough time to avoid it. The sentry roared to life, taking out her attacker. Behind her there was a loud explosion and she cringed. _That can't be good. _She thought, quickly getting back to work. It was Five o'clock when Red Team capped the last Blu point, Mech being one of the few on the point.

They returned to their living quarters where beer, whiskey, and foods of all sorts were passed around in celebration. It was quickly stopped, however, as Sniper crankily entered the room.

"Who blew up me bloody van?" He roared, anger apparent on his face. Mech instantly turned red, now realising just what that explosion was. She drained her beer and raised a grease-covered hand, a nervous look playing on her face.

"I did. Well, not on purpose, it was Blu Soldier... He was going to shoot me and." She was stopped by a raised hand.

"Save it, but now you gotta get me a new one." He turned to the rest of the team. "Bloody wankas..." he grumbled as he left the room, heading for the dorms.

She gave a nervous smile and the rest of the crew laughed. Demoman handed her another beer and they moved to the living quarters for a few rounds of poker.

It was close to midnight when Mech finally turned in, yawning after winning several games of poker. She collected her earnings, only a few dollars, and headed back to her room. She entered and turned the lights on, immediately confronted with snoring. She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes darting to the bed where Sniper now lay sleeping shirtless with his hat over his head.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: I must be sick, this is the first time I've ever updated this quickly. **

**Today's lesson: Making friends is a useful mistake. Think about that :)**

**Enjoy,**

**~Raven**

* * *

Making as little sound as she could Mech grabbed a blanket from the small dresser in the corner of the room and went back to the living room, turning off the lights and softly shutting the door behind her.

She had planned on taking over the couch but quickly saw that it was already occupied by an out-cold Demoman. She sighed, sitting down with her back to the couch facing the kitchen where Pyro was still up. He was moving about, straightening up from the evenings celebrations when he noticed her. He stopped what he was doing and cam over, offering a hand to help her get up. She smiled and took it, standing and yawning.

"Nhhd hh pllcc taaa sthhh?" He asked pointing to the dorms. She looked at him, confused. Trying to process what he said. She thought she got it.

"Yeah, Sniper reclaimed his room" She explained and he nodded, beginning off down the hall and motioning for her to follow him. She did, again yawning before they reached the end of the hall where there was a dorm room on the left an the entrance to the showers and bathroom on the right. They entered the room, and she made note that it was Pyro's, not the closet or spare room she had been expecting.

It was warm compared to the rest of the base, not that she minded, and to keep this so, he closed the door behind them. She took in the few sights of the red colored room as he pulled out a red sleeping bag from the bottom of his dresser. He handed it to her and she smiled her gratitude.

He was about to leave when he stopped. He hesitated, but began to pull off his gas-mask. She watched and waited, sire he had something to say. Beneath the ever present mask was a man about her age, late 20's/early 30's, with orange-blond hair and hazel eyes. Along his left cheek was a gnarled burn scar and his ear was damaged but that didn't stop him from giving her a warm smile. "Make yourself comfortable, I'll be right back. I need to finish up cleaning."

She nodded and he left returning only a few minutes later to find her curled in the corner across from his bed wrapped snugly in the orange bag. She was still awake, but barely. He crawled into his cot, still dressed in his work suit and was about to shut the light off when her voice stopped him.

"Why did you take your mask off?" She asked, rather childishly but what could she say, she had been drinking.

He sat up, pausing before hugging his knees to his chest and looking at his flamethrower which was mounted by hooks on the wall. "I-I'm not sure. I barely know you but... I feel safe talking to you." He looked up at her. "I guess its 'cause you look like my sister." His voice was deep and soft, in an almost caring way. It was a shame the mask hid it.

She snuggled deeper in her sleeping bag and he reached over, turning off the light and locking the door.

"Hey shouldn't you keep that open? Just in case, you know..." She mumbled after hearing the lock's faint click.

"What, fire?" He laughed, "I'm the only thing in this base... other than the stove and heater, that starts fires. You'll be fine."

"Hey, thanks for letting me sleep in here."

"No problem."

Mech didn't fall asleep right away. Rather, she spent time thinking over the day. It reminded her a lot of collage. Where she went was a mainly male environment and she adapted. She picked up drinking and cursing and a general toughness that she could easily back up with an uppercut to the jaw. Her eldest brother, another student, approved as he was the same way. It horrified her parents though, and when she went back to visit she was forced to revert to her docile manner.

After being out of collage for a few years and living closer than not to her folks she had almost dropped the cursing and toughness (but never the drinking) and wasn't sure how accurate her blows were anymore. She recalled being shoved aside when the match began. _I suppose that me wouldn't mind hanging around for a few more months_, She thought with a smile, quickly drifting into sleeps feathery grasp.

The engineer was woken by a gentle nudging at her shoulder. It was David, explaining that he was going to make breakfast before the others got up. She nodded, standing and slipping out of the sleeping bag, taking note that the sky was barely beginning to brighten outside. Sleepily she followed him to the kitchen where he put his gas mask on, just in case.

He put on a pot of coffee and began making scrambled eggs over the gas stove and being a bit of a cook herself, Mech offered to make pancakes. The eggs were done and half the large bowl waffle batter had been used before sleepy teammates began trickling from their room. Sniper was first, he had changed into his uniform and was holding his hat and glasses. He grumbled a little as he sleepily reached in the cabinet above the little fridge, pulling out a #1 Sniper mug from the assortment of glasses. Ignoring the presence of the others he took the pot off the back burner and filled his cup.

He took his place at the pre-set table fixing his hat and glasses on his head as Mech brought over the eggs. It only took another ten minutes to finish the pancakes with Pyro's help and when she placed them on the table Scout, Spy and Solider were already chowing down on the eggs along with Sniper(A/n: I swear this was not on purpose). Medic and Heavy soon followed, Heavy showing off the band-aids the good doctor had given him for his sore fingers. Medic smiled, shaking his head as he took his seat and several pancakes.

Compliments were passed around for the food as they finished up and Pyro put what was left on a plate for Demoman when he woke up.

A phone was situated on the counter next to the fridge and it rang, being picked up by Spy who didn't bother saying anything to the other side. He hung it up after only a few seconds and turned to face the rest of the team.

"Ze fight shall be at Viaduct. Get your jackets and go to ze train in 5 minutes. It will be a bit of a long ride."


	4. Chapter 4

**A/n~ Sorry 'bout the wait, school's been crazy and tf2 has been eating my life away.**

**As always, pleas r,e,&r**

**~Raven**

**I do not own tf2 or any of the classes borrowed. All character personalities are mine, as well as Mech.**

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Mech had rummaged through the items strewn about the workshop, turning up a scarf. Living in Southern Texas close to the border for all her life, the woman had never seen snow, and once she was informed of the current conditions, she became greatly excited. She stuffed blueprints, pre-made machines, her shotgun and wrench into the toolbox and hauled it off to the train. With everything in hand she boarded, taking note that the car was furnished with chairs and tables and there was a door to the next one where she could see beds through the window.

She set down her things, sinking into one of the plush red chairs. Scout eagerly came on after her, his ball-bag stuffed with his weapons and a hat and scarf in his hands. He sat across from her and smiled. "Ready for this, newbie?" he asked, leaning back and putting his hands behind his head.

She narrowed her eyes at him, a simple look that screamed, 'If you value your life, never call me that again.'

His smile became nervous as he tried to find a comfortable position.

Sniper came in along with several others, some of which having their own conversations. Heavy was the last to board, and as he sat down next to the engineer the train turned to her and smiled as the train began to move. When she returned the smile, though, he frowned. "Tiny Mech will be cold!" he exclaimed, pulling out a maroon sweatshirt from his own duffel-bag. He handed it to her and she smiled. "Will keep you warm!" He said merrily and sat back in his chair.

She pulled on the sweater. It immediately warmed her and she could smell the soft scent of a spring breeze on it. It was obvious that he hadn't used it since it had been washed, and for that, Mech was grateful.

The train was soon filled with quiet chatter and the young woman sat back and observed as the train began to move. Again, she was reminded of college. There was only one other girl there that she knew of in the mechanical school, the librarian's assistant. They had roomed together for safety's sake and would often do what Mech was doing now, sit in one of the commons and watch what the guys would do.

Sniper looked his gun over, sighing as if remembering something. He stood, taking his gun with him and moving into the adjacent car.

The engineer looked around before quietly leaving her seat and following the slightly elder man. He was sitting on the bottom of one of the bunks, his rifle in his lap with a cleaning kit produced from the small leather pouch at his hip. He glared at her for a second and she contemplated going back out. She ignored that thought and sat down next to him instead, being sure to give him a few inches distance.

Before she could even ask, he answered her question.

"Somethin's in the barrel, nothin ah con't fix." He mumbled, tapping the barrel.

She shook her had and held out her hand for the gun. "Its not an outside problem. Lemme see it."

He glared at her again and grumbled, handing it over reluctantly along with the cleaning kit.

She reached inside her sweatshirt and into one of her overall pockets, pulling out a very small screwdriver. She opened the the magazine, checking to see if it was unloaded. Satisfied she began to work.

"I'm sorry by the way." She said, carefully unscrewing the scope.

He winced as she handed it to him. "Fer what?"

She pulled the bolt from the barrel, setting it on her lap. She looked up for a moment, looking into his grey-green eyes. She looked back down, looking over the outside of the gun. "Your camper, you were really mad and I didn't get a chance to tell you. Do you have a ramrod?"

He pulled a slender metal rod from his kukri and handed it to her. "'S owriot, train'll bring me a new 'un." he rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke.

Mech threaded one of the cleansing pads she found in the cleaning kit into the slot on the tip of the the rod and was pushing it through the barrel. She nodded at what he said when the cleansing pad reappeared she gave an astonished look. "Well there's your problem." she mumbled as she pulled the blood and dirt covered pad out and the rod back the way it came. She repeated this with a new pad each time until the pad came our relatively clean.

"I'm still using your room though, but you can keep the bed." She told him as she began reassembling the rifle. She screwed the scope back on and handed the gun to him, smiling. "You'll have to check the scope, but other that it should be fine."

"Where'd ya le'an ta do that?" he asked, still looking a bit surprised as he put the kit back in his pouch.

The engineer shrugged. "I grew up on a farm, we had to keep out chickens, cows and horses safe from coyote. My pop and brothers taught me how to hunt game and predators." She held her arms up as if she were aiming a rifle, right hand in front though. She squinted her right eye. "I could pick off a turkey at 60 yards with one shot." she said triumphantly as she relaxed.

Sniper looked unimpressed. "You were holdin' it wrong." he said bluntly.

Mech shook her head. "I'm ambidextrous, left is a little stronger for me." she explained, standing up and going to the door. She looked back. "Coming?"

He stood up and walked to the door. She paused before opening it. "Whats you name?" She asked, this had been bothering her.

He raised an eyebrow. "Snoi-"

"No, no, what does your mama call you?"

"Luke..." he said, still slightly puzzled.

She held out her hand and as he took it an shook she said, "Gloria, its nice to formally meet you."

He sneered at the name and she glared. "That's exactly why I'm Mech to my mainly guy colleagues." She hit him gently in the stomach and he coughed, hiding a smile.

They slipped back through the door and headed to their seats. Scout was spinning a yarn about knocking someones teeth out with his bat and only a few were listening.

As Gloria sat down she turned bright red when she felt bony legs as well as something else beneath her. She stood up and gave the chair a death glare. "What the fuck you want?" she screamed.

The train fell silent and all eyes fell upon the woman.

"Hon hon hon," the chair laughed, and slowly the red spy materialized, sans his mask. Curly blond hair rested flat on his head, and there was a darker ring of skin around his sterling silver eyes and mouth. A devious smile played on his face and his position on the chair was more relaxed than Mech found comfortable. "Problem mon cheri?"

She growled at him, grabbing his collar and pulled him up with little protest. (why ruin a good suit?) "Yeah, you fucking ghost. I don't do lap dances." She shoved him forward, sending her foot on a one-way trip to his groin.

He cringed and doubled over coughing. "You leettle bitch!" he yelled trying to stand up, clawing at her legs. She kicked him in the side preventing him from getting her and making him fall over again.

"Leave. Me. ALONE." she growled.

He scowled at her, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it and popping it into his mouth. He stood slowly and once he reached his full height(a whole 5' 11")he blew a cloud of blue smoke in her face and limped off as she coughed. Chatter around the room slowly began to pick up again.

Luke patted her on the back, making her stumble forward. "Yah gonna go far kid." He muttered, sitting in the chair next to hers.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/n: Christ in a handbasket this took forever to write. I hope you all are happy. :| I'd like to thank Deezy from Steam for kicking my ass until I finished this and for giving me a few pointers and tips.**

**Hokay, so along with bonding and sexy things (MILD WARNING SEXY THINGS AHEAD) there is a bit of plot in this! **

**Readers: Holy shit, no way!**

**YES WAY! ENJOY.**

**~Raven  
**

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The train had pulled up to the bridge at about 5 that evening and everyone filed out, quickly moving to their base. Inside, the base was warm, heated by a wood-stove in the kitchen. Mech offered to make dinner and allowed the others to relax and watch TV, not to mention enjoy a beer or two (or six in demoman's case).

"_Dear, I thought I'd drop a line," _she sang quietly and somberly as she swayed gently back in forth, her own metronome._ "The weather's cool. The folks are fine,"_ She pulled a large pot from the cabinet near the sink, putting it in the sing and running the water, filling it a quarter of the way full.

"_I'm in bed each night at nine," _Gloria pulled a few carrots, a vine of five tomatoes and six bell peppers from the refrigerator along with a few potatoes._ "P.S. I love you."_

From the freezer she pulled a wrapped slab of beef and from another cabinet several cans of beans. _"Yesterday we had some rain," _She placed a skillet on the wood-stove, placing the now unwrapped meat inside. _"But all in all I can't complain." _She opened the door on the front of the wood-stove, throwing in an extra log from the wood-box nearby._ "Was it dusty on the train?" _ Mech began slicing the vegetables and dropping them in the pot as the beef began to sizzle. _"P.S. I love you." _

"_Write to the Browns just as soon as you're able." _She heard laughter from the other room, but she stayed focused on the carrots._ "They came around to call." _

"_I burned a hole in the dining room table." _ She laughed a little, remembering a time when she actually did burn their table back home. _"And let me see, I guess that's all." _ As she moved on to the tomatoes, she looked up and out the window to sing the remaining verse.

"_Nothing left to tell you, dear, except, each day seems like a year." _She paused to cut out a bad spot in the fruit. _"Everybody's thinking of you, P.S. I love you." _ She sighed and looked back down, surprise flashing on her face as her knife nicked her hand.

"Fuck." she swore as the acids from the tomato mingled with the cut making her wince. Medic came in from the adjacent room, about to ask how dinner was coming along. He saw her holding her hand over the wastebasket and acted as fast as he could. "_Fräulein, _you must be careful!" he muttered, pulling a roll of bandages from his coat. As he wrapped up her hand, the younger woman poked at the beef on the stove with a spatula, flipping it over.

Medic turned her hand over, patting the top. "There ve are, goot as new."

Mech looked at her bandaged right hand and smiled at him genuinely. "Thanks Doc."

He sat at the table while she finished the vegetables and offered to cut up the beef while she minded the stew. She laughed and accepted, giving him a wood cutting board and a new knife.

"I heard you singink earlier. Vat a lovely song." He said merrily as he sliced the meat into little cubes.

She blushed a little. "Thanks, I usually don't sing that often, but it's one of my favorite songs." She stirred the soup, poking at one of the pieces of pepper with the spoon to see if it was tender yet.

"All the same, you haf a vunderbar voice." he mused, bringing the meat over and pushing it into the stew. Medic put the board and knife in the sink and took his place at the table, leaving Mech to finish up, still blushing.

The Engineer called for dinner, and the TV was shut off and the crew filed in, crowding around the table as she served them and set the pot on the table for seconds. The sounds of eating quickly filled the air. Mech sat at the opposite end of the table from spy, flanked by Scout and Luke.

A few comments were passed about the food, but she didn't see why, it was nothing like how her mother made it.

Mech dismissed herself early from dinner, going to the engineer's garage. She didn't want to have to sleep on the floor, and she was determined to find something that the former man slept in. She smiled when she found a hammock that was rolled neatly into a bundle.

Searching farther around the room she found a green blanket, two hanging hooks, and a screwdriver with a pile of screws. 'Perfect.' Gloria took the items up to the dorm rooms, trying to find Snipers room.

His was on the end to the left, across from the showers. She knocked, hearing no reply she entered, setting down her materials on his bed. The room was small and bare, save for his bed which took up half of the room. She climbed up on what she assumed was his 'foot' end and began making a hole for one of the hooks after finding a support beam. She removed the screw, inserting the hook in its place and making sure it was tight. After doing the same on the other side she hung the hammock from the hooks, climbed on his bed and gingerly climbed in, hearing the hooks creak.

It held and she smiled in triumph, going back downstairs to retrieve her toolbox. Scout talked her into another beer and she stayed for a while, just talking.

Gloria turned in at about 8:30, yawning loudly as she walked to her room. She paused at the door, thought, and turned to the showers. She listened and peaked inside the pink and white tile room.

She gave a relieved sigh, going back out into the hallway and opening the adjacent closet, pulling out two towels, a new bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo.

She sneaked back to the room, trying not to let the others know she would be taking a shower. The engineer stripped from her clothing, wrapping herself in the larger of the towels, taking the other one along with the soap and shampoo. She paused, remembering the train ride and removed a screwdriver from her toolbox. She knew it would probably rust from this but she didn't want to have to deal with Spy again.

Mech crept back to the showers, setting down the soap, screwdriver and bottle on the small rack below the water leaver at the shower on the far end of the open room. She moved quickly the cold tile floor and the thought of having to be naked for more than a few minutes motivating her. She strung the smaller towel on one of the metal pegs at the far side of the room first, then after taking a quick look about, she shelled off the towel wrapped around her and hung it up.

She hissed as cold air enveloped her, wrapping her arms around herself and moving quickly back to her shower. She stood back before yanking the leaver to the side labeled 'hot' with her bandaged hand.

Water jutted out after a second, the steam coming off it and where it touched the cold ceramic tile, quickly filling the room. She reached out her hand, feeling the water then eased in and gave a contented sigh as the water flattened her hair.

The engineer heard a door shut in the hallway and she didn't pay any mind to it until she heard footsteps in the shower room. She froze, sparks of fear running down her spine as she slowly turned around.

She let out a relieved sigh when she saw it was just Sniper, but blushed when he removed his own towel, hanging it on the wall besides hers.

He turned to her, nodded—he was no longer wearing his glasses—and took the shower one over from her. Setting down his soap, razor and mirror on the rack he started his shower. Gloria simply returned to staring at the tiles in front of her. She jumped when he spoke.

"Heh, expectin' someone else?" he asked, eyeing the screwdriver. He reached for his soap with an arm feathered with dark brown hairs. His chest, abs and pectorals chiseled lightly but visibly, was speckled with scars and flecked with the same brown hair that tapered as it headed south—

Mech noticed she was staring at him and caught herself before her eyes traveled any lower. She mentally smacked herself. "Y-yeah, I didn't want to risk another run-in with Spy."

He nodded, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed him giving her a once over as she reached for the bar of soap. She nearly dropped the bar, catching it against her thigh just before it had the chance to make her suffer.

Luke had gasped then grunted, turning away. Gloria's eldest brothers words echoed in her head as she held the bar tightly with both hands.

"Trust me, Glowworm; don't drop the soap while you're out there." His face was stoic, but he laughed as he continued. "And get yourself a new bar of it, NEVER use someone else's."

Mech's face was bright red as the slightly elder man quickly gathered his things and went for his towel, walking awkwardly. He threw it around himself and stumbled out, back into his room.

After a second of trying to comprehend what the hell had just happened, she moved to shut his shower off them continued with her own. She finished in five minutes and shut off the water, rewrapping her towel around herself. She gathered her things and moved the hallway. She peaked out, watching Soldier enter his room and shut the door before leaping over to Luke's door.

She knocked, and then entered anyway, assuming he was sleeping. She shut the door behind her and turned, looking at his bed, meeting two angry grey-green eyes glaring at her from behind a pair of glasses. And… _was that a blush?_ She tried to keep herself from laughing.

He looked back down to the small book he had been reading, trying his best to ignore her as she put on her pajamas: a pair of shorts and a large t-shirt. She crawled into the hammock, pulling the blanket over her and shuffling herself until she was comfy. She thought, and shifted so she could see him.

"Why were you in the shower?" Mech asked, giving him a look of mild curiosity. She wasn't entirely mad at him, but all the same she wanted a good explanation.

Sniper grunted, shifting in his bed. "Ah 'aven't showered in a good week. Ah needed it."

"But you knew I was in there. Why didn't you wait?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yah gonna need tah get used tah showerin' with guys. If yah want tah be treated as an equal, yah gotta act like an equal."

In her mind Mech knew he was just coming up with some excuse, but she shook it off. He was right, although she didn't want to accept it, about the equality thing. Weakness wasn't an option here.

"Whatever." She mumbled flipping back over and pulling her blanket tight. "'Night."

The sound of quiet snoring soon filled the room and Luke sighed, taking off his glasses and rubbing at the bridge of his nose. He put his book on the floor, his glasses on top. He flipped the switch to the florescent ceiling light and pulled up his own blankets, looking at the woman across from him before closing his eyes.

Battle started at nine, and after setting up her sentry Mech had gone back to the Infirmary to keep Medic company. She didn't have to worry about her sentry being taken out; Pyro said he would check it now and again.

She sat on one of the beds and looked out the heavy bullet-proof glass at the on-going battle as he sat at his desk and did paperwork.

"_Fräulein, _vhy don't you go back out unt fight? I am fine in here." He asked, his blue eyes looking over one of his manila folders.

Gloria shook her head. "I can't, not yet. I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind me asking them."

He smiled and put the folder down. He clasped his hands together and looked at her. "Shoot."

She smiled back taking her hat off and running a hand through her hair. "Why… Why was I called in? What happened to the last engineer?" she asked causiously.

He opened one of the drawers in the desk and pulled out another manila folder, opening it and pulling out a photo. He handed it to her and she inspected it carefully. "Zat iz Bill Conager, ze last engineer. He vas found killt in his garage. Ven I examined him I found a australium bullet in his head. Australium is expensive, ans Mann Co. owns all of et. Zey vould not let any of us use et, so ve know zat his death vas _nicht _of ze ozer teams doing. Ve do _nicht_ know anyzing else."

Mech examined the picture of the man. He was laying on a metal table, a towel draped over his midsection. Apart from the bullet hole drilled in his head and the marks and cuts from the autopsy, he looked peaceful. She nodded and handed the picture back.

"Vas there anyzing else?" the doctor asked, putting the photo back.

"Yeah, are we not aloud to know eachother's names?"

He stroked his chin, thinking. "_Nein_, ve may learn ozers names. But et iz not recommended. Ze sink et vill cause us to make bonds, zen if vat happened to Bill happens to zat person, ve vill be emotionally compromised." He smiled, "Vhy do you ask _Gloria?"_

She smiled back. "I was just wondering. And you cheated, you have all our medical information. If you know my name, I wanna know yours."

He hesitated. "Frederick."

She pushed off the bed and held out her hand. He met it with his gloved hand and shook. "Well, Frederick, I've got to get going. I'm sure I'll see you soon though." She said with a wink. And with that she left, heading back to her sentry.


End file.
